Organizers said this is the first of many events to start the conversation.

“If somebody needs an antidepressant, they need it now,” Zac Campbell said. “To be six months out from even getting an evaluation done, that can be the difference between life and death. Until mental health care is seen and valued just as much as physical health care, this movement will not stop.”

The Treatment Advocacy Center recently ranked Iowa 49th in the nation for its quality of mental health services.

“(Leaders) are shutting facilities down and the need is great,” Sheila Campbell said. “I’m hearing from people who work at the courthouse and in the court system. They have people who could be let out of jail, but there’s nowhere to put them.”